Research
Homicide Rates in Fragile Democracies : Reflections on the Paradoxes of Latin America
This article analyzes the relationship between the quality of democracy and homicide rates in Latin America. Our hypothesis is that governments with authoritarian tendencies in Latin America do not necessarily have higher homicide rates than those without these tendencies. Our research focuses analyzing the “quality†of democracy in four countries: Brazil and Colombia, categorized as "weak democracies", and Peru and Bolivia, considered "hybrid regimes." Secondary data obtained from the Economist Intelligence Unit, Our World in Data and the World Bank Group websites were used for this analysis. Findings indicate that weakening of institutions is an important contributor to homicide rates in weak democracies (Brazil and Colombia). However, this factor has less of an impact on homicide rates in hybrid regime countries (Peru and Bolivia), where the fragility of democracy coexists with lower homicide rates.
Human Trafficking and Prostitution in Mozambique: the Mualy, Amalapos and the Police
This article discusses processes of human trafficking for prostitution in Mozambique. It begins by situating the African continent within the dynamics of globalization processes, associating human trafficking with poverty and discussing it as a profitable illegal activity conducted on a global scale. It continues by presenting the historical factors and economic constraints that put the Mozambican population in a vulnerable situation in relation to human trafficking and prostitution. The article then examines how the perceptions of police regarding women trafficked for prostitution are affected by the local institution referred to as Mualy. Quantitative data come from the Statistic Brain Research Institute, compiled from the following reports: UNAIDS, World Bank and Demographic Dividend for the period of 2010 to 2017. Qualitative data were collected through ten interviews with the Provincial Command Squads of the Police of the Mozambique Republic (PRM) of Nampula, a city located in northern Mozambique. Results show that cultural factors interfere with how Mozambican police perceive human trafficking for prostitution and that such interferences undermine authorities’ strategies to combat this type of crime
